Pasadena council to consider revised ordinance for backyard chickens

File - Chickens in a permaculture garden January 3, 2013. A group of Pasadena residents is asking the city council to revise an ordinance limiting the ability for residents to keep backyard hens.
Sarah Reingewirtz — Staff photographer, file

PASADENA >> A group of local residents are clucking about a Pasadena zoning ordinance they say restricts their ability to have backyard chickens.

The group, which calls itself “CLUCKinPasadena,” passed through the Legislative Policy Committee this week and will make its case to the full City Council on Monday.

Group leader Cynthia Frederick said she and her fellow hen enthusiasts are asking the city to change its current zoning ordinance to allow for a smaller 35-foot buffer between chicken coops and the neighboring dwelling. The city’s current ordinance allows a household to have up to 10 hens, but they must be kept 50 feet from neighboring property and no closer than 100 feet from a church or school.

“This means that no one aside from a handful of houses in the Arroyo can have them,” Frederick said. “So 95 percent of the people in Pasadena are essentially prohibited because they don’t own multimillion-dollar estates. ... We should have the right to do with our property what we want, as long as it’s not bothering anybody else.”

Frederick has been advocating to council to change the chicken ordinance since earlier this year after realizing many of her fellow residents were keeping chickens under the radar and still others wanted to start, but their property wasn’t big enough under the current law.

“The ironic thing is Pasadena is actually held up as an example to other communities across the country that have been engaged in a movement to legalize backyard hen keeping in cities,” Frederick said.

Liza Frias, environmental health division manager for Pasadena Public Health, said she thinks the changes to the ordinance will be a positive step. And, she said, the department reached out to every neighborhood association in the city and only received positive feedback.

“I think this will provide an opportunity for those who are really looking into sustainability, making sure they can grow their own eggs, create compost,” Frias said.

In addition to the reduced buffer requirement, the new ordinance would require residents to register with the city if they want to keep chickens, and would also require them to have a coop. Roosters are prohibited, and will remain illegal in the new ordinance.

Mayor Bill Bogaard, chairman of the Legislative Policy Committee, agreed that the city should support urban farming and sustainable living. Though some concerns were raised about smell, noise and unruly chickens straying into neighboring yards, Bogaard said he felt they had been adequately addressed by staff.

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“I think the return to a commitment of good nutrition and healthy living and gardening, that movement is one that has my support so long as it doesn’t intrude on the quality of life,” Bogaard said.

However, he said, his fellow committee member Councilman Steve Madison expressed concerns about the new ordinance, so the committee did not endorse it to the council. Madison did not return calls for comment.

Ultimately, Frederick said she hopes the full council will approve the ordinance change, which matches the law in many surrounding cities.

“What we are asking for is very minimal and the benefits far outweigh whatever minimal downside there might be,” Frederick said. “We all have our fingers crossed for Monday.”